Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Butterfly Effect

Disclaimer: I doubt JK Rowling ever had to go on a busy vacation, cram all her work and write a chapter update on the flight back, so yeah, I'm definitely not her.

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Chapter 42

Destiny. Fate. Butterfly effect. All different names which essentially had similar meanings. Lily had heard of these, but never exactly believed in any. She was far too cynical to admit that destiny controlled her life. So Lily never believed in destiny. Until the fateful day that changed everything including Lily's mindset.

One action which you do, one small decision, one tiny change, can completely change anyone's life. One different thought or impulsive action and life takes a different turn. People called it the Butterfly effect. The capability of a small decision to change the timeline and the course of a person's life.

If Lily hadn't woken up early that day, it wouldn't have happened. If she hadn't been thirsty and found the empty jug on her nightstand, her life wouldn't have turned out the way it did. She could have slept in a few more minutes and missed one of the important incidents that shaped her life.

And thus, Lily understood the Butterfly effect.

Lily woke to the sunlight streaming in through the blinds of her window, which bounced off the lilac walls and painted glass of the balcony door. Feeling her parched throat, she reached for the jug next to her bed, only to find it empty. It didn't occur to her that now she's legally allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts and that she's in a fully magical household.

None of this occurred in Lily's sleep clouded mind as destiny had different plans for her.

Sighing, she got up, grabbed the jug from the nightstand and made her way to the kitchen downstairs. She heard voices as she approached the kitchen, identifying them as Mrs. Potter and James. She had forgotten that James is a morning person.

She would have kept walking, interrupting their conversation, if she hadn't heard her own name.

"It's Lily, isn't it?" came Mrs. Potter's voice from inside the kitchen and Lily froze in her steps.

She heard James clear his throat and the clinking of cutlery. "What about Lily?"

Lily moved closer to the kitchen, positioning herself behind the cabinet that separated the open kitchen from the dining, so that even though she could see both James and Mrs. Potter, neither of them could see her.

James was sitting on the small table in the kitchen, twirling around the spoon in his bowl of cereal, a rare frown on his usually cheerful face. Mrs. Potter stood a bit far, a spatula in her hand as she flipped pancakes with expertise.

"The girl you've been telling me about." Mrs. Potter said, as she whirled around to face James, "Lily is the girl."

James didn't reply and Mrs. Potter smiled in satisfaction.

"Don't think about denying it." Mrs. Potter teased as her smile widened, resembling James even more, "I can see it in the way you look at her. And that bracelet on her hand is the one I designed. It has the Potter crust behind it."

Lily's eyes widened as her gaze fell on the silver custom made bracelet on her wrist. Flipping it around, she saw that, true to Mrs. Potter's words, there was the Potter family crust engraved at the bottom which she had never noticed.

She focused her attention back on the duo in the kitchen when she heard James speak. "Yeah, it's her."

Lily gulped, hoping that neither of them could hear her heart almost beat out of her chest. What is happening?